This is my 3rd year milking goats, I don’t have a milking parlor (yet😊), I milk in our barn/shop. My husband built me a stanchion when we got our first goats and it is a must for milking (also great for hoof trimming). When I first started out I was milking 2 Nigerian Dwarf does by hand…these days I’m milking 7 does and have switched to a machine, so much easier! I’ve been using the Simple Pulse home milking system and really love it, my goats all adjusted to it in a couple of days. I don’t have a sink in the barn and the Simple Pulse is a bit heavy for me to carry so I have a little cart I pull it on that doubles as a little table for all my milking supplies.
For hand milking I like to use stainless steel bowls I get from the grocery store. I’ve purchased small milk pails before, but for my short goats a low/wide bowl is a better fit…and I can use it for a salad the next day.😉 I filter the milk into half gallon jars. I use the mini-strainer from Caprine Supply.
So…the Simple Pulse fits right in my little cart and it also holds my supplies, like paper towels and dixie cups which I use for cleaning the udder. I like to recycle large yogurt tubs to hold my homemade udder wash/teat dip. I use the udder wash recipe from Fias Co Farm. You can also see my milking stool where I sit, it was my great grandmothers and she really used it when she milked cows in their farm many years ago. It’s pretty special to me, I got it from my grandmothers house after she passed away in 2008, little did I know I’d actually be using it to milk goats one day!
I keep my grain and Chaffhaye handy while I milk. I love using Chaffhaye, the goats love it but don’t eat it nearly as fast as they would just grain. I wish I’d had it my first year milking because I was slow and the goats would be impatient once they ate all their grain…which usually led to a hoof in the pail!
FOUR CEDARS 